The present disclosure generally relates to optical waveguides for optical communication and, more particularly, to methods for forming ion-exchanged waveguides in glass substrates using localized heating.
As microprocessor performance continues to increase, electrical interconnects for data flow to and from the processors become a dominant bottleneck for overall system performance. Replacing electronic interconnects with optical interconnects may address this bottleneck problem. Optical interconnects provide higher bandwidth-length, higher density, and potential cost and power savings over electrical interconnects.
Optical waveguides are components that may provide optical interconnects between optical components, such as laser sources and photodetectors. Ion-exchanged waveguides in a glass substrate are one type of optical waveguide. Inclusion of ions, such as silver ions, along a narrow path increases the index of refraction of the glass along the path. Optical signals are guided within the narrow path defining the waveguide. Ion-exchanged waveguides are formed by applying a patterned mask layer to a surface of a glass substrate. In such a process, there are multiple complicated and costly steps required to prepare a mask with a desired pattern on the surface of the glass substrate before the ion-exchange process. Thus, the process of creating ion-exchanged waveguides is time consuming and costly, and therefore undesirable for mass production.
Accordingly, alternative methods of fabricating ion-exchanged waveguides are desired.